I liked this movie a lot when I was a kid. I think I even remember saying to myself that it was one of my favorite inspirational movies. Looking back, it was okay. I'll keep it as brief as I can:
1. The biggest problem with this movie (in my humble opinion) is the script. The writing of this movie was heavy-handed and extremely awkward.
-The dialogue was okay. It wasn't horrible, but there were moments that took me out of the movie and made me think about how strange the lines were. In particular, the beginning exposition with Jamal and friends sitting in school, talking about Forrester, was strange. I kept thinking, "wait, people don't say stuff like this." It felt like a weird old guy trying to write urban dialogue while simultaneously characterizing "the window". I guess ultimately, I'd just say that there was a strange disconnect.
-Many elements of the movie were hackneyed and sloppy. The love story element was extremely weird to me. I thought that entire relationship between Jamal and Anna Paquin was rushed and not believable. The racism elements/the "changing social circle" elements were strange as well. But I don't even think this movie was about race or class really. They just kind of threw in those elements sloppily, like afterthoughts. Basically, they have Jamal say "it's because I'm black, isn't it?". That's the extent of racism's role in this movie. To the film's credit, at least it didn't hit you over the head with these minor parts. It doesn't sink to the level of a Step Up movie, despite having a very similar idea to those pieces of crap.
-The character arcs were weird too. I can't really put into words how Forrester changed. I have a hard time pinning down exactly what Jamal did for William that cured his fear of the world. It almost feels like Forrester went to defend Jamal just on a whim. Similarly, I can't really pin down Jamal's arc. What happened to him? He got better at writing? And...? Then what? I suppose you could force out some idea about beating the system, but I don't think that was emphasized enough.
2. Look, no one wants to criticize Gus Van Sant. I get it. I didn't think the directing was that bad. He definitely gets points for squeezing out decent performances. This wasn't exactly a complex movie with complicated imagery or anything. One thing sticks out though. When Professor Crawford and co. confront Jamal about plagiarism, I couldn't even tell that there was more than one professor in the room. It was just a scene where I couldn't really tell what was going on. Just a note.
3. The acting was alright.
-Plenty of awkward lines. Plenty of awkward delivery. The head honcho professor was terrible. That scene where he talks to Jamal in Madison Square Garden was noticeably bad.
-Main actors were okay. I liked Jamal. And Sean Connery. They were fine.
-Why was Busta Rhymes in this movie? He wasn't bad or anything, but I found his part kind of negligible and his appearance distracting. Was it a strange attempt to lend this movie some kind of street cred or urban appeal? His character didn't even do much. The script could have found another way for Forrester to change his mind about helping Jamal. Or they could have had someone else let Jamal and Forrester into Yankee Stadium. I don't know. I'm just confused.
4. The jazz music was okay. It was quaint. At least they didn't blast some rap track in this movie to make it seem racial.
5. In conclusion
1. The biggest problem with this movie (in my humble opinion) is the script. The writing of this movie was heavy-handed and extremely awkward.
-The dialogue was okay. It wasn't horrible, but there were moments that took me out of the movie and made me think about how strange the lines were. In particular, the beginning exposition with Jamal and friends sitting in school, talking about Forrester, was strange. I kept thinking, "wait, people don't say stuff like this." It felt like a weird old guy trying to write urban dialogue while simultaneously characterizing "the window". I guess ultimately, I'd just say that there was a strange disconnect.
-Many elements of the movie were hackneyed and sloppy. The love story element was extremely weird to me. I thought that entire relationship between Jamal and Anna Paquin was rushed and not believable. The racism elements/the "changing social circle" elements were strange as well. But I don't even think this movie was about race or class really. They just kind of threw in those elements sloppily, like afterthoughts. Basically, they have Jamal say "it's because I'm black, isn't it?". That's the extent of racism's role in this movie. To the film's credit, at least it didn't hit you over the head with these minor parts. It doesn't sink to the level of a Step Up movie, despite having a very similar idea to those pieces of crap.
-The character arcs were weird too. I can't really put into words how Forrester changed. I have a hard time pinning down exactly what Jamal did for William that cured his fear of the world. It almost feels like Forrester went to defend Jamal just on a whim. Similarly, I can't really pin down Jamal's arc. What happened to him? He got better at writing? And...? Then what? I suppose you could force out some idea about beating the system, but I don't think that was emphasized enough.
2. Look, no one wants to criticize Gus Van Sant. I get it. I didn't think the directing was that bad. He definitely gets points for squeezing out decent performances. This wasn't exactly a complex movie with complicated imagery or anything. One thing sticks out though. When Professor Crawford and co. confront Jamal about plagiarism, I couldn't even tell that there was more than one professor in the room. It was just a scene where I couldn't really tell what was going on. Just a note.
3. The acting was alright.
-Plenty of awkward lines. Plenty of awkward delivery. The head honcho professor was terrible. That scene where he talks to Jamal in Madison Square Garden was noticeably bad.
-Main actors were okay. I liked Jamal. And Sean Connery. They were fine.
-Why was Busta Rhymes in this movie? He wasn't bad or anything, but I found his part kind of negligible and his appearance distracting. Was it a strange attempt to lend this movie some kind of street cred or urban appeal? His character didn't even do much. The script could have found another way for Forrester to change his mind about helping Jamal. Or they could have had someone else let Jamal and Forrester into Yankee Stadium. I don't know. I'm just confused.
4. The jazz music was okay. It was quaint. At least they didn't blast some rap track in this movie to make it seem racial.
5. In conclusion
- Don't have a guy who writes sports movies write something that's purportedly deeper. The script was the biggest weak spot of this movie. I kind of think that the writer wanted to do another Radio, but failed because there was a little too much going on in this movie. Which was good because it wasn't a horrible, over-sentimentalized touchy feely turd, but it WAS a bit of a clusterfuck. Everything else was decent.